Machine for separating shoes from lasts



April 8,1941. A. L; JALBERT 2237,437

MACHINE FOR SEPARA'I'ING SHOES FROM LASTS Filed Nov 24, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet l April 8, 1941. A. L. JALBERT MACHINE FOR SEPARATING SHOES FROM LASI'S Filed Nov. 24, 1939' 4 Sheets-Shunt z lllll l I I l J l I i I:

Ap 1941- A. L. JALBERT 237,437

MACHINE FOR SEPARATING SHOES FROM LAS TS Fiied Nov. 24, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig.3.

T w v April 8, 1941. A. JALBERT MACHINE FOR SEPARATING SHOES FROM LASTS.

Filed Nov. 24, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Apr. 8, 1941 MACHINE FOR SEPARATING SHOES FROll/i LASTS Adrien L. Jalbert, Haverhill, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough J., a corporation of New of Flemington, N. Jersey Application November 24:, 1939, Serial No. 3%,943

(Cl. 12-l5.1)

14 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for effecting relative movement between shoes and lasts and is herein illustrated and described as embodied in a treadle operated machine for separating shoes from lasts. For an example of a machine of this type, reference may be had to application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 279,066, filed June 14, 1939, in my name.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved machine of the type under consideration. In accordance with a feature of the invention the last support of the illustrated machine consists of an upstanding last pin secured in a member which is slidably mounted in a guideway for movement to bring the rear portion of the upper of a shoe on the last into engagement with a shoe separating tool. The guideway is preferably inclined upwardly to cause the last to rise upon approaching the tool, thereby insuring that shoes of different sizes will engage the tool at substantially the proper level for each size, and providing also for the subsequent return of the slide by gravity.' Both the shoe separating tool and the last pin slide shown herein are operated by a treadle. The shoe separatingtool of the illustrated machine consists of a friction pad. In order to hold the last support against slipping back under pressure of the tool during the removal of the heel portion of the shoe, there is provided a positive holding device which in the illustrated machine consists of a pawl and a ratchet. This holding device serves also to hold the last support in case the operator should slacken his pressure on the treadle or pause before making a further effort,

These and other features of the invention comprising various combinations and arrangements of parts will be best understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved machine showing the positions of the various parts at the beginning of an operation;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the position of the various parts at a later stage of the operation;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation on a larger scale of the upper portion of the machine at a still later stage of the operation; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view. 7

The improved machine as shown in the drawings is provided with an upstanding last pin H] for supporting a last L with a shoe S thereon.

The last pin ill is secured upon a slide l2 which Q;

is moved to bring the rear portion of the shoe S into frictional engagement with a U-shaped rubber pad it. While the slide I2 is held firmly in position the pad M is raised to lift the heel Dortion of the shoe from the last, whereupon the operator removes the forepart of the shoe from the last by hand. The last is then removed from the last pin l0 and the various parts of the machine automatically return to their initial positions.

The slide I2 is mounted in a guideWa-y it formed on a head I8 which is secured upon the top of a column or standard 20 designed to rest upon the floor. The guideway It is inclined upwardly at an angle of 18 from the horizontal to cause the slide IE to rise as it carries the shoe rearwardly toward the pad M.

The slide i2 is moved by a treadle mechanism through a coil compression spring 22 surrounding a guide pin 24. The spring 22 is interposed between a shoulder on the pin 2d and the upper end of a lever 26 fulcrumed on a pin 28 secured in the standard 20. The pin 25 is pivotally mounted between a pair of ears 2% depending from an under surface of the slide l2, the free end of the pin extending loosely through a slot in the upper end of the lever 26. The lower end portion of the lever 26 is engaged by a dog 32 pivotally mounted upon a pin 33 secured in the end of an upstanding arm of a bell crank lever 34 which is fulcrumed upon a pin 36 secured in the lower portion of the standard Ml. A tension spring 35 interposed between a tail of the dog and the bell crank holds the dog yieldingly against a stop 31 on the bell crank. A link 33 connects the other arm of the bell crank lever 34 with a treadle 4t fulcrumed upon a pin t2 secured in the lower portion of the standard Ell. A tension spring 44 interposed between the bell crank 34 and a hook M5 on the standard 2d normally holds the treadle mechanism up in a stop position determined by the engagement of the bell crank 34 with the top of an opening in the standard 20 through which an arm of the bell crank extends. Depression of the treadle it will rock the bell crank 34 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. l, causing the dog 32 to rock the lever 28 in a counterclockwise direction thereby urging the slide l2 to the left. When the treadle 4|] has been depressed to the extent shown in Fig. 2, the dog 32 is just about to pass below the lower end of the lever 26, whereupon the slide l2 becomes free of the treadle mechanism. To prevent the immediate, return of the slide to its initial position and to insure that the slide will be locked 56 upon opposite sides of the shoe.

positively in its operating position while the pad I4 is raising the heel portion of the shoe from the last the slide I2 is provided with a pawl 48 pivotally mounted upon a pin 50 and urged by a coil compression spring into engagement with a ratchet bar 52 secured upon the head l8 and extending parallel to the slide IS.

The friction pad I4 is carried by a U-shaped lever 54 which extends around the heel end of the shoe and has a pair of forwardly extending arms The arms 55 are fulcrumed upon a pair of co-axial pins 58 mounted in a pair of upstanding bracket arms 60 which, in turn, are secured upon opposite sides of the head IS. The pins 58 are co-axial with the hinge of the last L when the latter is in its operating position. The forward ends of the arms 56 are pivotally connected by a pair of co-axial pins 62 to the upper ends respectively of a pair of arms 64 which are united at their lower portions to form an integral V-shaped member. Extending downwardly from the lower portion of this V-shaped member is a rod 66 the lower end of which is pivotally connected to the treadle 40. It is evident that depression of the treadle 40 will cause the lever 54 to rock in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2 about the axis of the pin 58 thereby raising the pad [4.

The pawl 48 has a horizontally extending tail 68 the under surface of which is engaged by a cross bar "It secured at its ends upon the respective arms 66 which, when the treadle 40 is in its upper or normal position, serves to hold the pawl 38 out of engagement with the ratchet 52. Pivotally mounted upon a bracket 12 extending forwardly from the standard 20 is a lever having a pair of angularly disposed arms 14 and 16. When the treadle 4E] approaches its lowermost position the cross bar It will engage the arm 14 and thus rock the arm 16 in a counterclockwise direction causing the upper end of the arm 16 to engage the lower surface of the tail 68 and release the pawl 48 from the ratchet 52.

The pad M, as has already been mentioned, is U-shaped being designed to embrace the heel end of the shoe upper. As seen in Fig. 3, the pad I4 is also concave in vertical section the curvature being substantially complementary to the heightwise curvature of the end of the shoe upper. The pad I4 is secured to a pair of metal supporting members 18 arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the pad and hinged upon a pair of pins 80 respectively, which pins are substantially normal to the plane of the U of the pad l4. Each of the supporting members 18 has an upper and a lower rearwardly extending flange 19, the lower flanges 19 extending also forwardly or inwardly partly under the lower edge of the pad It to support the pad. A tension spring 82 connects the supporting members 18 at calities to the rear of the pins 80 and tends to swing the supporting members about their respective pins 813 to urge the central portion of the pad M forwardly in the direction of the shoe to a stop position from which the pad may yeild rearwardly. This stop position is determined by the engagement of the adjacent edges of the flanges E9 of the two members I3 respectively. It is evident that the above-described arrangement of the hinged supports 18 and the spring 82 serves to hold the U-shaped pad l4 normally in an open position; that is, a position in which the U is relatively shallow and its two arms are relatively wide apart. While in this open position the pad I4 may be engaged by the heel end of a shoe upper,

Y the slide I 6 serves another purpose.

and as the shoe is forced rearwardly against the pad the spring 82 will yield and enable the pad to close, that is, to assume the form of a narrower U with its two arms closer together. The pad 14 will thus conform to any shoe regardless of the width of the heel end of the shoe.

The pins are carried by a ratachet 84 which is pivotally mounted on a horizontal pin 86 carried by the forked forward end of a slide 83. Each of the pins 86 is surrounded by a spacing sleeve 83 interposed between the upper flange i9 and the bracket84. Formed in the rearportionof the lever 54 is a guideway 90 in which the slide 8%! may be moved forwardly or rearwardly. The slide 88 may be secured in any desired position of forward or rearward adjustment by a set screw 92. Depending from the bracket 84 is a lug 9% which is engageable with the end of a screw 96 threaded through a lug 98 depending from the side 33. The weight of the bracket 84 and of the supporting member 18 and the pad l4 hold the lug 94 in engagement with the screw 96, and the heightwise position of the pad l 4 may be adjusted by turning the screw 96.

In operating the machine, the last L with the shoe S thereon is mounted upon. the last pin l0 and the treadle 40 is depressed. Such depression of the treadle causes the slide l2 to move rearwardly and at the same time causes the friction pad M to rise, as has already been pointed out. The adjustment of the slide 88 in the guideway 90 is such as to cause the shoe to engage the pad with frictional gripping pressure just as the dog 32 clears the lower end of the lever 26. The pawl 48 thereupon locks the slide i2 securely in operating position while the pad M in its continued upward movement raises the heel end of the shoe from the last. While the heightwise curvature of the pad I4 causes the pressure of the pad against the shoe to increase as the pad rises, the pawl 48 nevertheless serves to hold the slide positively against this increased pressure. While the pad [4 is raising the heel portion of the shoe from the last, the operator presses downwardly with his hand upon the forward portion of the shoe bottom to aid in breaking the last. As soon. as the heel end of the shoe is clear of the last, the operator pulls the forward portion of the shoe off the last by hand. Continued depression of the treadle causes the cross bar 18 to engage the arm 14 and release the pawl 48, whereupon the slide I2 returns down the guideway is under its own weight to initial position. Upon release of the treadle 40 the lever 54 returns to its initial position and the cross bar in again raises the pawl 43 out of engaging position. Also as the treadle 40 rises to its normal position, the spring 35 will yield to enable the dog 32 to pass under the lower end of the lever 26 in resuming a position of readiness for the next operation. The inclination of the guideway It, as has already been pointed out, serves to enable the slide l2 to return automatically to its initial position under the influence of gravity. However, this inclination of In operating upon shoes of various sizes it is evident that size variations are heightwise as well as lengthwise. For example, if a smaller sized shoe is to be operated upon after a shoe of relatively larger size, the pad It will have to be adjusted further forward to be engaged by the smaller shoe at the proper instant, that is, just as the dog 32 clearsv the lower end of the lever .28, and furthermore to obtain the best results the pad l4 should be adjusted low enough to make up for the heightwise variations in size. The inclination of the guldeway I6 is designed to accommodate the heightwise variations in proportion to the lengthwise variations. The adjustment of the heightwise position of the pad M by the screw 86, therefore, once this adjustment has properly been made, will not ordinarily have to be disturbed when changing from one size of shoe to another size.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for separating shoes from lasts, comprising an upstanding last pin for supporting in inverted position a last with a shoe thereon, a slide upon which said last pin is mounted, a shoe separating tool engageable with the rear portion of a shoe upper, a guideway in which said slide is movable to bring the rear portion of the upper of the shoe on the last into engagement with said shoe separating tool, means for thus moving said slide, and means for effecting relative movement between said slide and said tool to cause the tool to raise the heel portion of the shoe from the last.

2. A machine for separating shoes from lasts, comprising a support for a last with a shoe thereon, a guideway on which said last support is slidably mounted, a friction pad, a treadle, a connection from said treadle for sliding said last support along said guideway upon depression of the treadle to bring the rear portion of the upper of the shoe on the last into frictional gripping engagement with said pad, a spring in said connection for enabling the last support to yield upon engagement of the shoe with the pad, and a connection for raising the pad upon depression of the treadle to raise the heel portion of the shoe from the last.

3. A machine for separating shoes from lasts, comprising a support for a last with a shoe thereon, a shoe separating tool engageable with the rear portion of a shoe upper, means for mov ing said last support to bring the rear portion of the shoe upper into engagement with said shoe removing tool, means for moving said shoe separating tool to raise the heel portion of the shoe off the last, and means for guiding said last support in its movement toward said shoe separating tool in. a direction having a relatively large component lengthwise of the last and a smaller cornponent heightwise of the last to cause shoes of different sizes to engage the shoe separating tool at substantially the proper level for each size.

4. A machine for separating shoes from lasts, ,7

comprising an upstanding last pin for support ing in inverted position a last with a shoe thereon, a slide upon which said last pin is mounted, a shoe separating tool engageable with the rear portion of a shoe upper, a guicleway in which said slide is movable to bring the rear portion of the upper of the shoe on the last into engagement with said shoe separating tool, said guideway being inclined upwardly to cause the last to rise as it approaches the tool, thereby insuring that shoes of different sizes will engage the tool at substantially the proper level for each size and providing also for the subsequent return of the slide by gravity, means for moving said slide along said guideway to bring the shoe into engagement with the shoe separating tool, and means for raising said tool to cause said tool to raise the heel portion of the shoe from the last.

5. A machine for separating shoes from lasts,

comprising an upstanding last pin for supporting in inverted position a last with a shoe thereon, a support for said last pin, a lever fulcrumed for heightwise swinging movement, a tool on said lever operable upon the rear portion of the shoe, a treadle, means operated by said treadle for moving said last pin support rearwardly to bring the shoe from an out-of-the-way position to an operating position wherein the tool can engage the rear portion of the shoe, and means operated by said treadle for swinging said lever to cause said tool to raise the heel portion of the shoe off the last.

6. A machine for effecting relative movement between shoes and lasts, comprising a support for a last with a shoe thereon, a tool engageable with the shoe, a treadle, means operated by said treadle for moving said last support from an out-of-the-way position to an operating position wherein said tool can engage the shoe, means for operating said tool to move the shoe relatively to the last, and positive means for holding said last support in said operating position.

'7. A machine for separating shoes from lasts, comprising a support for a last with a shoe thereon, a friction pad, mean acting upon the last support to press the shoe on the last against said pad, means for moving the pad to urge the shoe off the last, and positive means for locking the last support against movement under pressure of the pad during movement of the pad.

8. A machine for separating shoes from lasts, comprising a support for a last with a shoe thereon, a tool frictionally engageable with the rear portion of the shoe, a treadle, means operated by said treadle for moving said last support to press the rear portion of the shoe against said tool, means operated by said treadle for moving said tool to urge the heel portion of the shoe off the last, and positive means for preventing said last support from slipping back from said tool and thereby relieving the pressure between the shoe and the tool.

9. A machine for separating shoes from lasts, comprising a support for a last with a shoe thereon, a tool frictionally engageable with the rear portion of the shoe upper, a treadle, connections from said treadle for moving said last support to press the rear portion of the shoe against the tool, connections from said treadle for moving the tool to urge the heel portion of the shoe ed the last, and a pawl and ratchet arranged to prevent said last support from s1ipping back from said tool and thereby relieving the pressure between the shoe and the tool.

1.0. A machine for separating shoes from lasts, comprising a support for a last with a shoe thereon, a tool frictionally engageable with the rear portion of the shoe, means for moving said last support to press the rear portion of the shoe against said tool, means for moving said tool to urge the heel portion of the shoe on" the last, positive means for preventing said last support from slipping back from said tool and thereby relieving the pressure between the shoe and the tool, and means constructed and arranged to insure return of the last support at the completion of the operation,

11. A machine for effecting relative movement between shoes and lasts, comprising a support for a last with a shoe thereon, a tool engageable with the shoe, means for moving said last support from an out-of the-way position to an operating position wherein said tool can engage the shoe, means for operating said tool to move the shoe relatively to the last, positive means for holding said last support in said operating position, and means constructed and arranged to insure return of the last support to said out-of-the-way position at the completion of the operation.

12. A machine for separating shoes from lasts, comprising a support for a last with a shoe thereon, a tool frictionally engageable with the rear portion of the shoe, a treadle, connections from said treadle for moving said last support to press the rear portion of the shoe against the tool, means for moving said tool to urge the heel portion of the shoe off the last, positive means for preventing said last support from slipping back from said tool and thereby relieving the pressure between the shoe and the tool, and means operated by said treadle at the completion of the operation for releasing said preventing means to en able said last support to be returned to its initial position.

13. In a machine for separating shoes from lasts, a shoe removing tool comprising a U-shaped pad of flexible material for frictionally engaging the heel end of a shoe upper, and resilient means for urging said pad to an open position from which the pad may yieldingly close upon the heel end of the shoe upper when the shoe is pressed rearwardly against the pad.

14. In a machine for separating shoes from lasts, a shoe removing tool comprising a U-shaped pad of flexible material for frictionally engaging the heel end of a shoe upper, a pair of supports for the pad arranged on opposite sides of the iongitudinal center line of the pad, a hinge for each of said supports, said hinges being arranged for opening and closing movements of the U-shaped pad to accommodate shoes of various sizes and shapes, a common supporting member upon which said hinges are mounted, and a tension spring connecting said supports rearwardly of said hinges to swing said supports oppositely in directions to urge the U-shaped pad toward open position.

ADRIEN L. JALBERT. 

